Computers and computing devices have penetrated all aspects of our lives, and this is due in large part to the industry's concerted efforts at making these devices easy to use and understand. One of the key advances in this area has been the graphical user interface (GUI). Before such interfaces, computer users were forced to learn how to interact with computers though a command line interface. Such interfaces were notorious for strict syntax requirements that made them difficult to learn and use, but the GUI changed that. Today, users are accustomed to visualizing data files and computer resources as visual representations, such as indicia, and seeing those representations makes it easier for users to understand what they are doing and believe that they are doing it right.
Navigating the internet is no exception. With the advent of the GUI-based browser, such as the one found in Microsoft Corporation's WINDOWS™ operating systems, users can navigate through the millions of pages of data available in cyberspace by simply pointing and clicking on a link in a document. The link may take them to an internet page that has more content than can fit in the display area used by the browser. For example, FIG. 12 shows an example internet page 1201 that contains more content than will fit in the display area 1202 of a user's browser. The user can typically navigate the display area 1202 (e.g., by pressing arrow keys on a keyboard, rotating a scroll wheel on an electronic mouse, or moving a virtual scroll bar) to display different parts of the page 1201. So, for example, the user might see page content 1203 when the page 1201 is first opened in the browser, and then the user may navigate (or move) the display area 1202 such that a different page element 1204 may be visible within the display area 1202 of the browser. Such navigation, however, requires the user to visually understand the overall layout of the page 1201, and to understand how to navigate around the page 1201. Given the visual nature of the page, visual feedback is helpful in conveying a sense of movement to the user. For example, as a user moves the display area 1202 down to view a different area of page 1201, page content 1203 might move up the user's screen, thereby confirming for the user that the display area 1202 is moving down the page 1201. However, such feedback only exists if content 1203 happens to be in the display area 1202. If, for example, the display area 1202 is over a blank portion of page 1201, then until another page content element 1204 is displayed, there is no visual feedback to the user regarding the movement down the page 1201. This lack of feedback can be disorienting to the user.
Additionally, some types of page content may be more important than others. For example, content 1203 might be a “Contact Us” link that allows the user to contact the author of the page 1201. If the user has navigated his/her browser to view another element 1204, and that first content 1203 is not displayed on the user's browser, the user might not understand or remember how to contact the author of the site. The user may, upon viewing content 1204 and deciding to contact the author, find herself having to navigate all around the page 1201 to find the contact link 1203 again. Such extra navigation may further confuse the user.
To help minimize such “hunting” navigation, some internet sites may repeat important links throughout their page. So, for example, the “Contact Us” link might be found as an element 1203 and as another element 1204 on the page 1201. Having multiple links spread across the page 1201 may help minimize the hunting required, but its redundancy may interfere with the presentation of the page's overall content, and it may result in inefficient use of the resources consumed by the page 1201.
Accordingly, there is presently a need for an improved user interface that can help simplify navigation in an efficient manner.